


a very welcome ghost

by ndnickerson



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Banter, F/M, Reunion Sex, Reunions, Vacation, Winter, Woman on Top
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 13:07:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20026336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: Nancy is on a case in England, stuck in a freezing-cold, supposedly haunted castle, when she receives a surprise visitor.





	a very welcome ghost

Nancy moved the _under renovation_ signpost aside and unlocked the heavy wooden door with a small snicker. She had mostly dried out, but she could still feel something gritty settled against her skin, and her shoe soles were squelching against the stone. The skeleton key was oversized, almost comically so, but it turned easily and soundlessly in the lock.

She was staying in the castle because it made sense; the missing manuscript was still here, somewhere. The anti-theft measures already put in place guaranteed that, and she had tried every way around them that she could think of, to no avail.

The lights flickered as she clicked them on, but Nancy didn't blink as she trudged toward the bathroom. This part of the castle was a later addition, but it was still just as relentlessly cold as the older portions. The stone was perpetually cold to the touch, and the windows hadn't been designed for providing warmth, more for narrow slats to allow arrows through and deflect them from the outside. Every time Nancy's bare feet encountered the freezing linoleum in the bathroom, she flashed back to Bess reading aloud from a magazine detailing a sybaritic bathroom makeover, complete with heaters in the floors and the towel rack. In _this_ room, no matter how hot she made the water, Nancy's gooseflesh never went away.

Once water was gushing through the taps to fill the claw-footed tub, Nancy went back to the bedroom to find some pajamas and plug in her phone. She glanced over at the curled snake of the cord from the electric blanket, then plugged that in too. At least after her shower, she'd be able to jump into a nice, warm bed.

The bed itself was a curtained monstrosity, thankfully a reproduction of the furnishings that would have been in this part of the castle. Nancy found sleeping with the curtains pulled closed more than a little unsettling, and left them parted so she could see the door if she woke in the night. As a rule she wasn't easily spooked, and she smiled a little to herself as she thought of it. Two people had "confided" in her that the castle was haunted, by no fewer than five ghosts with scores to settle or broken hearts that would never be healed, were the tales to be believed. Nancy had listened with wide eyes and a very jaded brain. Anyone trying to convince her this place was haunted had instantly earned a spot on her suspects list.

While she attempted to relax in the tub, her thoughts turned to Ned. He was trying to get some time off so he could come here for at least a few days, but the airfare was steep. She didn't _need_ him here, and their reunion once she was back in the States would be wonderful. But she really did miss him. He would likely still be awake once she was dried off and tucked into bed, and just the sound of his voice would give her a thrill of pleasure, as it almost always did.

Skin freshly scrubbed and hair washed and dried, Nancy padded back into the bedroom wearing thick sweater socks, a thoughtful present from George, and plaid flannel pajamas. When she and Ned shared a bed, Nancy was only able to manage an oversized t-shirt; Ned's skin was so warm against hers that nothing else was strictly required. She shivered in remembered pleasure as she thought of it, reaching for her phone to call him as she moved to sit on the edge of the mattress.

Then her eyebrows rose.

The electric blanket cord was unplugged from the surge protector. And she had definitely plugged it in. She remembered that.

Which meant someone had been in her room while she was in the tub.

The fine hairs on the back of her neck rose, and her throat tightened. Her gaze locked to the door, Nancy swiftly unplugged her phone and tossed the cord out of the way, then padded soundlessly over to it. The doorknob turned in her hand as it always did, but the lock was engaged.

So someone else had a key.

Well, considering, many people likely had a key.

The night watchman was alerted when one of the motion-detecting cameras noticed movement; Nancy had made sure the system was restored and working after the theft. Nancy raised her phone to find that number, her gaze darting around the room to see if anything had been taken or disturbed. All the dresser drawers were in place. Everything was as she had left it, save that electric blanket cord.

She circled the bed—and saw a large hard-sided suitcase there that definitely wasn't hers.

Nancy gasped, her gaze searching the room one last time before she yanked back the nearly-pulled curtain surrounding the bed. The decidedly modern bedding had a definite human-shaped form beneath it, and then she saw his familiar grin.

"Ned!"

"Hey," he said happily, sitting up. "Wh—"

He was abruptly cut off as she hurtled into his arms, and he laughed as her exuberant hug tackled him back onto the mattress. "Good to see you too," he said, his voice only faintly teasing.

"You scared me!"

"For maybe half a second," he replied. "I was just hoping not to get tazed."

"Oh, the tazer had a mishap with the moat earlier today," she sighed, but she couldn't stop grinning. "I can't believe you're here!"

"You're staying all alone in a haunted, romantic castle. How could I turn that down?"

"Romantic?" She wrinkled her nose.

"It is now." Ned wiggled his eyebrows.

Nancy laughed. "I should have known when I saw the electric blanket unplugged," she remarked. "My own _personal_ blanket had arrived."

"If by 'blanket' you mean 'guaranteed to warm you up,' then yes," Ned replied. "Speaking of, you are definitely wearing too many clothes."

"I definitely am _now_." She stripped off the socks and pants, leaving her in the pajama top and her underwear. "Aren't you tired? Hungry?"

"Yeah," he said, watching her as she settled down beside him, but he definitely wasn't making any move to get up. "What's your point?"

She chuckled, snuggling under the blankets. The sheets on her side of the bed were cool, but she could already feel the warmth he radiated. "You know, with this place being 'haunted' and all, how do I know you're really here?"

"Hmm. How could I possibly convince you..." Ned reached up and cupped her cheek, and as he moved toward her, she rolled onto her back. The touch of his lips against hers was blissfully warm, and she parted them immediately, shivering as his tongue stroked against hers.

"That's a good start," she murmured, her eyelids rising slowly as he pulled back. She smiled at him.

"Unconvinced?" His gaze went from her lips back to her eyes, and she felt a frisson of desire slide down her spine.

"Mmm. What else you got?"

Then she felt his warm palm against her upper thigh, and his gaze was settled on her face when she gasped and looked at him again. With the faintest quirk of her lips, he responded with his own smile, his fingers curling around the band of her panties. She arched, letting him slide them down.

"Maybe I fell asleep in the tub..."

"You dream about this a lot?"

"Yeah," she murmured, her lashes fluttering again as the blade of his hand slipped between her thighs. "Mmm..."

"Me too," Ned admitted. "You're so beautiful..."

"So are you." She cupped his cheek, and then his mouth was pressed to hers again as he moved his knee between her thighs. Their kiss deepened, and she relaxed in a way she hadn't let herself do yet during this case. Nothing existed beyond them and this bed. Her hand slid into his hair, combing through the fine, silky strands, as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Baby." She sucked in a gasp as his warm lips found her earlobe. "I just couldn't stay away from you."

"I'm glad," she whispered, a pleased blush rising. "I was really looking forward to you coming home, but this..."

"Mmm-hmm." Ned pulled back for just long enough to tug his shirt over his head, and Nancy took the opportunity to struggle out of her own. The shock of bare skin, the living heat of it, made them both moan in anticipation.

By the time they gave in to it, she was warm and slick between her thighs, grinding against him, her palms stroking against his shoulder blades and down his spine. His gasps when her nails dragged gently over his skin made her smile, turning into laughter and groans when he retaliated with another kiss, another nip, another caress of his own.

He rolled over and she ground against him, moving back just enough to position herself over him. "God," Ned gasped as the cooler air immediately swept in, freezing against their sweat-dampened skin.

"Yeah." She moved into place, then lowered herself to him again, as close to him as she could be. He gazed up into her eyes, bringing a hand up to stroke her side and back as she rode him.

"The least I can do," she teased him. "Since you flew across an ocean to see me."

He smiled, and the tenderness there, the vulnerability, was enough to take her breath away. "I'd cross an infinity for you," he murmured, his gaze locked to hers. "I love you more than words."

Her own smile trembled slightly, and she buried her face against his neck, savoring the feel of him breathing faster under her, his body responding to her own. "Baby," she gasped as her clit rubbed against him, as she moved faster. "I love you so much."

His grip on her tightened, and as her climax rose his hips rocked under hers. Then his hand slid between them and she screamed against his shoulder as his thumb rubbed against her clit in rapid, hard strokes, provoking an earth-shattering orgasm that left her reeling. He was murmuring something, gasping as her inner flesh tightened and pulsed against him, and he stifled his own cry as he came. 

Nancy panted for breath as she collapsed against him, their bodies still joined. She couldn't move. She could barely even think.

Some time later, maybe seconds, maybe hours, Ned made a contented sound that was almost a purr, and Nancy found that she had enough breath left to chuckle. He really was like a furnace under her, and she definitely didn't want to move.

"Welcome to England," she murmured.

Ned was quiet for a minute, so long that she actually moved back a little to look into his face, an eyebrow quirked up.

"Just trying to figure out some kind of wordplay involving Big Ben."

Nancy cracked up. "Baby, you have _nothing_ to worry about in that area," she assured him, and flexed her inner muscles around him again. "You don't have to compare yourself to phallic landmarks to get me hot."

"That's a relief." He stroked a few strands of damp hair from her cheek. "And I bet nothing delivers out here to the middle of nowhere."

She shook her head in mock regret. "Worse than that, I'll need _another_ bath before I can be seen in public again."

"What a shame," Ned sighed. "We should make it worth it."

"Or multitask," she suggested. "The tub in there is definitely big for all of us."

"'All'?"

"You, me, _and_ Big Ben."

Ned sprang and began tickling her, and Nancy squirmed away breathlessly, her eyes sparkling as she laughed and made a break for the bathroom.

"Coming?"

Ned gave her a positively wicked grin. "Definitely."

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally published elsewhere. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving feedback!


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